Just want to check im not overly protective of my macbook...

Ok, so last week I was on holiday with a few people, and I took my aluminium macbook with me, because I knew we'd have access to the internet.

A couple who came with us have 2 kids, one about 6 and the other about 3, and of course they get bored over the week, especially of an evening, when they are winding down for bed.

Anyway, the topic came up, that they could use my laptop to watch a dvd and the eldest could play a simple game I have installed.

I looked down at these two kids, looking back up at me with longing eyes, one was eating an ice pop.... but was holding the actualy ice instead of the stick, and the younger one was caked in chocolate and was happily chewing on a chicken nugget. And I thought about my lovely macbook, sat safe and snug upstairs in its nice soft carry case.

I said no.... I just couldnt do it....

The rest of the people I were on holiday with arent interested in computers at all, and didnt understand why I would say no....

I have to share a similar story that pisses me off. My friend (dumb PC user) hated Macs because the iMacs (white plastic models) froze very frequently and said the sole XP computer ran fine. I told him that more people used the Macs, and treated it like garbage. He wouldn't believe me. Some ppl stuck gum to the iMac, spilled drinks over the keyboard, threw the MM, stepped on the cables, spat at the screen, the list goes on and on. banging on the keyboard wasn't even mentioned nor jamming pencils and other crap down the SuperDrive.

Bottom line, I'd never give my Mac to kids that are caked in chocolate or holding an ice pop thing. I'd tell them to clean up and stay that way.

No you weren't in the wrong. Theres no end of damage (physical or otherwise) a messy kid could do to a nice computer.
A coursemate at university lent his 12" PowerBook to his younger brother. The next day after a lecture he put a DVD into the PB. It didn't spin up, tried ejecting but it was stuck. Turns out his brother had got ice cream in the DVD drive, had to buy a new drive in the end and them things were quite expensive in the UK.

Personally I was never like that as a kid. The few times I got to play on my dads friends Amiga systems I treated them as I would my own. But I've always been good to computers.

i think you were right to say no mate, the only person allowed to touch my macbook is me, i have had it a year now and they only person who has ever touched it has been me and when i am asked if someone can use it i cringe with fear, i love it too much to let anyone else even touch it

It's your property and you didn't want to risk it getting damaged. You made the right decision. It sounds incredibly petty that someone would be annoyed or angry over you not allowing kids to use it. I'm not a kid person but I can tolerate them, what I can't take is parents that will allow their children to do or get anything and get angry at those who won't.

Yes, take care of the Macbook. Let them play with some other crap book. If anything, just let them watch from at least an arms reach while you play the game. Or perhaps play a really boring game (like a spelling B game) and tell them that is the only game made for Apple.

as with pretty much everything in life, being careful is healthy, and being obsessive is unhealthy. That being said, letting toddlers go wild with an expensive laptop is not a good idea. Besides, kids need to learn how to deal with disappointment sooner or later. The world doesn't revolve around them.

When my toddler nieces & nephew are over I have no worries about them watching movies on the iMac. As long as they aren't poking at the screen they can't do any damage. Just make a point of having them wash their hands and sit down to watch the show and you come out looking like a hero to them instead of a grump.

I have to agree with you OP. Unless you made sure to wash the kids hands before they used your MB and sit there with them the WHOLE time they watched a DVD or played a game, there's really no telling what those kids could've done lol
Heck, i don't even let certain GROWN-UPS use my macbook

I don't think it is unreasonable to say no. If you set it up on a table to watch a movie, which could be safe, the laptop could still end up in their hands. It only takes a few minutes for them to potentially ruin it, and once it's already out, you still look like bad if you are to "over-protective" of it. It is better to say, "Look, it is an expensive and fragile machine that I need for work, and I can't risk any damage to it. I can't afford to lose information that is stored on it."

I personally take very good care of all my devices and have had friends break my stuff and hand it back to me (and act like I gave it to them broken!). I am not fond of loaning stuff to people, because I find people don't take care of things. Now imagine that with a 6 and a 3 year old, who have no concept of money and value, and think everything is only for their pleasure (not their fault, call it innocence if you will).

If the parents wanted to watch a movie, they could have brought their own laptop or dvd player. DVD players can be had for $40 here in the states. Unibody MacBooks are $1299 to start. If they wanted to borrow a cheap dvd player, fine whatever, but I dont let my family members use my primary computer, so I sure as heck wont let a 3 year old use it.

I'll stick with the overwhelming majority. I have two Macs. Nobody touches them but me. I (very occasionally) make an exception for my fiancee, who is allowed to use the laptop for brief tasks. That's it. I do not loan machines out; friends do not get to use them. Children with sticky fingers are not allowed within five feet of any piece of equipment I own.

It's 2009. It's not like you're waggling something rare in front of them to belittle them. Laptops can be had very cheaply, and anyone can get their own. It's not your responsibility to entertain them or their spawn. If they are that easily bored, they should have brought something to do. If their children are that easily bored, they should have been left with family while their parents went on vacation.

If they cannot fathom why you do not want ten kinds of nastiness smeared all over the machine you invested over a thousand dollars in, just tell them it's a work machine and you are prevented from letting others use it for security reasons, and leave it at that.

Your protectiveness is understandable from a computer user's perspective, but I can also see how it's not understandable from a bystander's point of view.
Sometimes it's best to let go and just let your family have fun.

As with the sticky fingers, I will of course ask them to finish their food and clean their hands first. You just need to establish some house rules.

I live with my sister and her to daughters. One is five and one is two an a half. Now these children are quite smart, the two yr old knows which dvds she likes can turn on the tv, open the dvd player, and get the movie going and everything. It's really quite amazing, but i keep the door to my room locked when im not home. In my bedroom i have my macbook, a PS3, a 360, and a 50" flat tv. Rugrats and electronics do NOT mix. I mean i love the kids to death, but they just cant be trusted around such expensive things.

You did the right thing. I'm not even going to bring my UMBP17 over to my girlfriend's house unless she stops smoking. She thought I was being a prick, but then I pointed out that an HP laptop which I *gave* to her had declined at an alarming rate *eg. cleaning the screen would wipe yellowish tar off, etc). No offense to the little kids, but I doubt that they would be able to pay for damage to your laptop should it occur.

You did the right thing. Heck, I wouldn't even let my kids use any of my computers at that age without close supervision. As for the people who questioned your decision, I would have asked them if they'd be comfortable letting the kids use their similarly-valued camera or other such item.

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